Confronting Complacency in the Face of Calamity: Mobilizing for the Home Front War against Diabetes.

University of California, San Francisco, Center for Vulnerable Populations, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Abstract

Despite the damage Type 2 Diabetes (DM2) is wreaking on vulnerable families and communities, the US clinical, public health and scientific communities have not yet mobilized for a public health war against DM2. This war requires us to confront our "diabetogenic" society - characterized by sedentary lifestyles, marketing that push diets engorged with processed sugars, and neighborhoods where it is easier and safer to drive than walk. I describe 6 causes for this complacency, and highlight solutions from other recent socio-medical epidemics in which we overcame complacency to generate lifesaving policies. It is time for those fighting DM2 one small clinical battle at a time to become more active in shaping DM2 policy and enlist en masse in the larger policy war against DM2.